Running and debugging processes and services in the web Inspector

Authoring processes is an iterative process that can involve several playback sessions. You can run, test and debug your processes and services in the web Process Designer Inspector.

You can use the Inspector to demonstrate current process design and implementation in playback sessions. Playback sessions help capture important information from different stakeholders in a process, such as management, end users, and business analysts. Taking an iterative approach to process development ensures that your process applications meet the goals and needs of everyone involved.

You can run your process or service in the Inspector to test your flow and to see whether individual tasks are running as expected. You can act as different users if you want to test the access that you set up for your users. If a task is not performing as expected, you can debug it. You can switch easily between running and debugging your tasks as required.

The Inspector in the web Process Designer provides tools that enable you to complete tasks like the following:

Table 1. Tasks for the Inspector
Task Description
Run processes or client-side human services
To run a process or client-side human service, complete the following steps:
  1. Open the process or service that you want to run.
  2. Click Run Run in the upper-right corner.

    If you are running a process, the Inspector opens, showing information in the right pane about the running process or service. You can see the tasks that are running, process and service data, and the tokens, or markers, that indicate which activity is running.

    If you are running a human service or coach, the user interface opens in a browser window.
Step through and debug process instances For a selected instance, see the currently running step and then move forward through the service, evaluating the execution step by step. The locations section on the right pane combined with indicators called tokens in the process diagram make it easy to understand where you are in the process. You also have the advantage of seeing the variables used in each step and their corresponding values (where applicable).
Run and debug tasks and services To run a task or service, click Run Run beside it. To inspect a task or service in detail, click Debug Debug beside it and step into the task or service.
Debug client-side human services
To debug a client-side human service, complete the following steps:
  1. Open the service that you want to debug.
  2. Click Debug Debug in the upper-right corner.

    The Inspector opens, showing information in the right pane about the running process or service. You can see the tasks that are running, process and service data, and the tokens, or markers, that indicate which activity is running. If the activity that is running is a coach, the user interface opens in a browser window.

Search for and view previously run and currently running instances. You can search for and view your previously run and currently running process instances in the web Process Designer Inspector. You can manage running instances and interact with them. To search for instances:
  1. Click Search .
  2. In the search panel, enter the search criteria for the Inspector.
  3. Press the Enter key.
See Searching for process instances in the web Inspector.
Parent topic: Building process applications